Pulse Newsletter
The Pulse of the Multi-Church Pastor Institute, Volume 4, No. 1
Team Day Report
On December 17 our MCPI team met for a day of introductions, instruction and inspiritation. We have grown this year and had five new team members and Board of Advisors, and their spouses that had not met each other. It was a time of rejoicing and bonding together. We watched a video about how faith prepares for the future even though we can’t see what God is going to do. David Sijenyi, our conference organizer, shared a report on our Burundi mission and I led a discussion of our core values and how they relate to the fulfillment of our mission.
Our values are excellence, openness and transparency, and evaluation. As a model, I shared Psalm 78:72: “And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” As we go about our training, we want to be open and transparent—thus demonstrating integrity. And we want to do it with excellence—that is skillful hands—skillful teaching. And we achieve excellence only as we evaluate everything we do and make changes based on that evaluation.
In our meeting we also refined our mission statement to read: “Our mission is to train the untrained and undertrained leaders in basic church leadership skills.” We are looking expectantly to the New Year as God leads us into new opportunities to serve Him in building of His church.
Our final action of the day was to decide how we would distribute our tithe. Last year we decided to give 10% of our income to causes that would further our mission. This year we gave to the following projects: 1. The construction of a pastor’s house which will be used to host national missionary interns. 2. The printing of training manuals for a programme that is teaching missions in local Tanzanian churches. 3. School fees for a student in a missions college. 4. A pastors’ training programme in the slums of Nairobi. We praise God that we have been able to encourage these national efforts in training the untrained and undertrained!
Upcoming Events
Eldoret Advance (January 18-20). This is a new partnership that MCPI has entered into with SIM. We will be teaching our church leadership materials and SIM personnel will be teaching on how the church can be involved in AIDS ministry.
Nyakach, Kenya (January 23-25). We will be ministering to Africa Inland Church pastors from Western Kenya. India (February 10-21) We will be teaching at the Hope and Help International Pastors Conference in Chilakaluripet and at a second pastors conference in Hyderabad.
Special Prayer request:
Please pray for God’s comfort for Ken Onywoki, our Finance Officer. His wife died suddenly on Christmas day and leaves behind their two young children.
How you can be involved:
1. Pray for the many new training opportunities God is giving us for 2012.
2. Pray as we continue to work with a prospect for Deputy Director.
3. Pray for the completion of the writing of the book Conflict Resolution in the Church
4. If you would like to help support our ministry or give towards our international travel expenses, (India, and South Sudan in May), please send your gifts to:
Servants of Christ, International
3018 Carla Drive
Rowlett, TX 75088
Please make checks out to “Servants of Christ International.” Please put “MCPI-Phil Morrison” on a sticky note or on a separate piece of paper.
A special thank you to all who are supporting us with your prayers and finances.
Have a blessed New Year!
Phil Morrison for the MCPI team
(Phil is a Bible Fellowship Church Missionary serving with Africa
Inland Mission, International)
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Dear Friends, It was at the end of a day of training and joy lit up the faces of the pastors who were worshiping the Lord. As I looked around me, my heart was filled with joy. The church was constructed of locally made bricks held in place by the same sticky clay mud that seemed glued to the soles of my shoes. The roof was made of metal sheets held up by rough wooden beams. The dirt floor was rough and uneven and as I looked to the front of the church one window opening was not completed and the front wall still had a three foot gap between the top and the metal roof. But this was not really the church. This was just the shell. The church was the men who were wholeheartedly singing unto the Lord. But who were these men? Many were refugees who had fled to Tanzania during the tribal wars that took place in their country in the 70’s and 80’s. Out of the 35 only two pastors had any formal training! None of them were full time pastors; all had other jobs to support their families including the bishop, who was also a school head master.
As I watched these men I was so thankful that God enabled us to come and to share about church leadership. Later we asked the church leaders what their thoughts might be for further training. We were excited to hear they planned to take the training out to the pastors in their local contexts and to build upon what they had received during this seminar. They face an overwhelming task, as they lack trained people who can equip others and finances to provide seminars and materials. Some of the pastors don’t even have a copy of the Bible in their own language. Yet they are committed to the process of 2 Timothy 2:2 to pass on what they have learned to others who can then teach even more.
This church is young and they are writing their constitution and putting things into place. One of the issues is qualifications for pastors and they have decided that every pastor will be trained using our book The Multi-Church Pastor and must pass a test on its contents to be a pastor in the church. Please pray for wisdom and guidance as they work through all of the details and “nuts and bolts” issues needed as sthey organize this new denomination.
We are humbled and blessed that God has given MCPI along with Pastor Patrick Murunga, from Good Shepherd Church, Nairobi, (who helped organize the trip) the opportunity to help them in this way at the very beginning. Through your gifts and prayers God made this possible and so I want to say thank you.
Besides the four day seminar in the south we also held a one day seminar to the pastors of the Burundi branch of the Association of Urban Ministries in Africa in Bujumbura with around 50 pastors in attendance (none who have formal ministerial training). This group is interested in starting their own training program for their pastors and we shared some ideas on the module approach where the pastors would come every few months for short intensive courses and then return to put what they have learned into practice.
On Sunday we had the privilege of preaching in five different churches. In our nine day trip David and I preached in 10 churches and brought greetings in two others.
How You Can Be Involved
- Pray for the pastors in Burundi who received training that they will put into practice what they learned.
- Pray for the many new training opportunities God is giving us for 2012.
- Pray as we seek to bring a Deputy Director on staff.
- If you would like to help support our ministry or give towards our international travel expenses, (India, and South Sudan), please send your gifts to:
Servants of Christ, International
3018 Carla Drive
Rowlett, TX 75088
Please make checks out to “Servants of Christ International.” Please put “MCPI-Phil Morrison” on a sticky note or on a separate piece of paper.
A special thank you to all who are supporting us with your prayers and finances.
Have a Blessed Christmas!
Phil Morrison for the MCPI team
(Phil is a Bible Fellowship Church Missionary serving with Africa Inland Mission, International)
The Pulse of the Multi-Church Pastor Institute
August 2011, Volume III, Number 4
Dear Friends, Our last seminar expanded our borders to a neglected part of Kenya where we had never been near Mt. Kilimanjaro. Members of Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas sponsor the Christian Growth Seminar and yearly bring a missions team which I joined. I taught on Conflict Resolution. In thanking me one of the leaders said, “Conflict is a Goliath in our churches.” MCPI has been asked to partner in this endeavor by providing teachers in the future.
In September and October we will have FIVE seminars in Kenya but let me share with you how God is expanding MCPI’s borders!
Sudan! From October 28-November 22 I will travel to South Sudan. I start with a Pastor’s conference in Malakal and then travel 50k south to Abwong to teach a block course at Zimmerman Bible College, preach on Sunday and then do another pastors’ conference. Because of the civil war there has been a lack of Pastoral training. This is a great opportunity. However, ministry travel in Sudan is quite expensive. My papers and airplane tickets will cost around $1000 for the three week trip.
Burundi! When I was in Rwanda in March one missionary described Burundi as the forgotten country in the area of church leadership training. That statement stuck in my mind and now over the past two months God has unexpectedly brought pastors, church leaders and missionaries into my path who are looking for ways to develop leadership training for Burundi. Now, a MCPI team has been invited to go with a Kenyan pastor to train and explore with the Burundian church how they can develop an ongoing training program of their own. The trip is planned for December 2-9, 2011. The cost of the trip for a team of three will cost around $500.
India! (A bit outside of Africa!) Hope and Help International have invited me to teach in a pastor’s conference in Andhra Pradesh, India. The trip will be February 8-22. The MCPI training manual, The Multi-Church Pastor, will be translated and printed in Telegu (the language of southern India). Praise the Lord with us that the costs for travel and the printing are already covered.
Board of Advisors and other New Staff
We have formed our first Board of Advisors. It is comprised of two men and one woman who have extensive experience in para-church and church ministry as well as in the corporate world. These three will help greatly in giving MCPI direction as we grow.
Secondly, we have added our first lady trainer, another male trainer, as well as a finance officer.
Thirdly, we have been working with someone to become our deputy director. Pray for him and all for a smooth incorporation into the ministry.
Bringing on extra staff is important as we are growing. However this will require additional support obligations for MCPI. Please pray for the Lord’s provision
How You Can Be Involved
1. Pray for our new Board of Advisors, new staff and the many expanded training opportunities God is giving us.
2. If you would like to help expand MCPI’s borders financially in providing support for our new staff or giving towards the international travel expenses, please send your gifts to:
Servants of Christ, International
3018 Carla Drive
Rowlett, TX 75088
Please make checks out to “Servants of Christ International.” Please put “MCPI-Phil Morrison” on a sticky note or on a separate piece of paper.
Toyota Vehicle Fund: Praise the Lord we only $354 remaining before the $11,000 is paid off. Please pray for God to provide the balance.
If you would like to help with this project please send gifts to (NOTE NEW ADDRESS!):
Africa Inland Mission
PO Box 3611
Peachtree City, GA
30269-7611
Please put “Phil Morrison Vehicle Fund Account #: 044700-010” on a sticky note or separate piece of paper but not on the check! Thanks!
Thanks for your partnership!
Phil Morrison for the MCPI team
(Phil is a Bible Fellowship Church Missionary serving with Africa Inland Mission, International)
The Pulse of the Multi-Church Pastor Institute
Volume 3, Issue 3, July 2011
Dear Friends, I have been on the road so much that I haven’t been able to get an update out to you. As we catch up I want to focus on partnership as MCPI has had several opportunities to partner with other ministries. In March I traveled to Kigali, Rwanda for the Shepherd Leadership Conference. I was the Bible teacher and spoke on “The Impact of the Gospel upon the Pastor’s Ministry”. I was able to share about MCPI to the 200 pastor who gathered there and distributed a number of books in English and French. While there I learned there was no Evangelical Bible College in Rwanda that offers a bachelor degree. Truly the need for training church leaders is great. Please pray for future opportunities in Rwanda.
In the first week of April I taught on “Conflict Resolution” and “Leadership Challenges” in two conferences in partnership with SIM’s Christian Workers Bookset Project. This partnership also involved MCPI’s conference organizer David Sijenyi helping SIM with logistics and registrations. We thank the Lord for being able to be a part of this effort and have already received invitations and inquiries for seminars as a result of the training we shared.
On April 12-14 MCPI began a partnership with the Africa Leadership Training Institute in Mombasa where I taught a block course on Church Health to ten students who interacted enthusiastically with the material. Team member Daniel Kioko also taught there May 10-12.
In May, my wife Jan and I were in the U.S. for the college graduation of my daughter and my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. The day after we returned MCPI held a leadership seminar with a number of administrators from a coalition of orphanages. David Sijenyi and Abel Muanica taught the first day and I joined on the second. They did a great job in organizing and leading the training.
A week later I flew to Nigeria (June 7-June 29) where I spoke and taught at four seminaries, held two pastor’s seminars and preached in three churches. Their response was warm and we discussed ways we could partner in the future.
In the past few weeks I have met with mission and denominational leaders to discuss further training partnerships. Please pray for God’s direction as we discuss plans for the future.
Praise and Prayer Requests:
1. Praise God for opportunities past and future. Pray for six seminars in August-October.
2. Pray as we are adding more team members and trainers to help staff our growing ministries.
3. Praise for God’s provision to carry out the work.
Partnership Opportunities
If you would like to partner with MCPI financially or in giving to future international travel expenses, please send your gifts to:
Servants of Christ, International
3018 Carla Drive
Rowlett, TX 75088
Please make checks out to “Servants of Christ International.” Please put “MCPI-Phil Morrison” on a sticky note or on a separate piece of paper.
Toyota Vehicle Fund: So far we have received $10646.42 of the $11,000 needed for our vehicle. Please pray for God to provide the balance.
If you would like to help with this project please send gifts to:
Africa Inland Mission
PO Box 178
Pearl River, NY 10965
Please put “Phil Morrison Vehicle Fund Account #: 044700-010” on a sticky note or separate piece of paper but not on the check! Thanks!
Thanks for praying! Phil Morrison for the MCPI team
(Phil is a Bible Fellowship Church Missionary serving with Africa Inland Mission, International)
March 2011, Volume 3, Issue 2
Dear Friends, In this issue I want to focus on prayer. This was laid on my heart through a conversation I had with a woman at a seminar last week. She greeted me by saying, “You have blessed me so much.” Thanking her I asked, “Are you a pastor?” She replied, “Oh, no!” So I asked, “What is your ministry?” “Intercession,” she told me, “but I don’t like to talk about it. I just want to keep it between God and myself. But I will be praying for your ministry.” Will you please join her in praying for MCPI? Thanks!
Here is a prayer list:
Fellowship Baptist Churches. Each pastor agreed to bring two “Timothys” to the seminar (February 24-26). It was a joy to share with these 36 church leaders who were eager to learn. The Kinango area is mostly Muslim and very hot and dry. The early rains failed and so they had no harvest. Please pray for the Lord to give a harvest this year both physically and spiritually.
Prayer for the Kigali, Rwanda, Shepherd Conference, March 21-25. Please pray as I will be speaking on the “Gospel’s Impact Upon the Pastor’s Ministry”. Although not a MCPI conference I will have the opportunity to share about our training. Pray that God will open further doors of ministry in Rwanda.
Prayer for a MCPI Deputy Director. Today I met with a man to explore the possibility of him joining MCPI to become the Deputy Director. This is an important step as the ministry grows. He would work along side of me for the next year before my home assignment. This would enable training and a smooth handover for the time that I would be away. Please pray that God would give him and MCPI clear guidance if this is His will for him to join us.
Prayer for new MCPI team members. As requests for seminars grow we need to expand the number of trainers. We have those who have applied and others that are interested in joining with us. Pray that God will bring us the right people and will build the MCPI team.
Prayer for International Travel. We are now receiving invitations for ministry outside of Kenya. Current plans include trips to Nigeria (June 7-28); possibly Mozambique (July); Sudan (November 1-21); India (February 9-20, 2012). Pray that God will give us wisdom to know what additional trips to accept and also the needed finances for the international travel. We thank God that funds for the Nigeria trip have come in.
Conflict Resolution Project. In the last issue I mentioned that I felt the Lord was leading MCPI to produce simple and practical materials to help churches and pastors with this major issue. At my last conference an assistant Bishop came to me and said, “I wish all of our denominational leaders could hear this material.” Please pray for God’s wisdom and direction as we begin developing the materials.
Seminars. We have had a couple of seminars postponed. Pray that we will be able to reschedule these and that those responsible will be able to work through the logistics of organization.
Finances. We thank the Lord for His faithfulness. Please pray that as we expand God will continue to provide.
If you are interested in supporting MCPI financially or in giving towards the international travel expenses, please send your gifts to:
Servants of Christ, International
3018 Carla Drive
Rowlett, TX 75088
Please make checks out to “Servants of Christ International.” Please put “MCPI-Phil Morrison” on a sticky note or on a separate piece of paper.
Toyota Vehicle Fund: So far we have received $5901 of the $11,000 needed for our vehicle. Please pray for God to provide the balance.
If you would like to help with this project please send gifts to:
Africa Inland Mission
PO Box 178
Pearl River, NY 10965
Please put “Phil Morrison Vehicle Fund Account #: 044700-010” on a sticky note or separate piece of paper but not on the check! Thanks!
Thanks for praying!
Phil Morrison for the MCPI team
(Phil is a Bible Fellowship Church Missionary serving with Africa Inland Mission, International)
